


The Dead Do Return, but Never the Same

by rapono



Series: Tales of Reyes [7]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Based on RP, One Shot, Possible Continuation, Reyes tries to be cryptic, monster!reaper, soul craving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-27 23:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8422639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapono/pseuds/rapono
Summary: To Jesse, the monster known as Reaper sounds like a dead man, but maybe his mentor isn't six feet under.





	

_This is a conversation between Jesse McCree and Monster!Reaper (Overwatch)._

  
  
McCree was passing through route 66, his hat blocking out the afternoon sun. He spotted the cloaked man behind him, the Reaper. 

The masked assassin spoke to him.

"Well if it isn't the little ingrate."

That voice.

"Reyes?" Something was off about him, something that tied Jesse's stomach in knots. "Shit, how--what--you're dead, ain't ya?"

"Reyes is certainly dead, Jesse." He took a step closer to the cowboy. " _He_ is never coming back."

Jesse lifted his chin, stubborn defiance flashing through his dark eyes. 

"Then who the fuck are you, and why're you usin' his body?" he demanded, his hand hovering close to Peacekeeper's holster. He didn't want to shoot this thing that sounded like Reyes, but he knew Reyes wouldn't have wanted to be some shit-for-brains thing's puppet.

"Who said I was using his body? That old thing died years ago." He still approached, his outfit and mask hiding whatever may be underneath.

"You think I don't know what his fuckin' voice sounded like?" he demands, slowly starting to circle the creature. "Whatever the fuck you did to it, the base is still him. Either you're usin' his body, or you're usin' a damn good copy. Or, I dunno, you're fuckin' Frankenstein's monster and you're usin' his throat."

"Did you ever consider your little theory from earlier is closer to the truth if you switched it around?"

Jesse tensed. "You tellin' me Reyes was usin' your body, all those years?" That didn't seem right, but that super-soldier program...

"You're getting hotter cowboy, but no, Reyes was himself back then."

Jesse couldn't resist, undead eldritch monstrosity or no. "I was already hot t'begin with," he said, tipping his hat with a wink. "So, back then. At some point, he became not himself, if what you're tellin' me's true. When?"

"Reyes died during the explosion. But."

"But what?" Jesse pressed, growing tired of this game of cat and mouse. He wasn't known for his patience, after all, and he never had been. If this thing had any access to Reyes' memories at all, it would know that. "You tellin' me you two were cohabitatin', or what?"

"And that's where you're wrong. Assuming there is two people under this mask. No Jesse, Reyes... heh, I died, and was brought back a monster."

"So I _was_ right," Jesse objected aggrieved. "You ain't dead, but you were before." He dropped his defensive stance, scowling at his undead commander. "Did it... does it hurt?" His voice came out softer than he would've liked, but Reyes had been a damn good commander, and Jesse was nothing if not loyal. So he was a little concerned, sue him.

"Oh yes, constant agony. But I've grown accustomed to it, don't even notice it anymore." He stopped approaching McCree. "Doubt you could even recognize me if I took off my mask."

McCree tipped his head back. "Take it off," he demanded. "You ain't never had no reason t'hide from us." Us, of course, being Blackwatch. It wasn't the happy, shiny, picture-perfect found family Overwatch had been, but it had been... something. Tightly-knit and fiercely loyal, if nothing else. If Reyes still needed him, well, McCree knew where his loyalties lay, first and foremost.

"Fine. But I look nothing like I used to." And with that he removed the mask. His flesh was pitch black, four blood red demonic eyes staring at Jesse, and a wide sharp-toothed grin. "Ta-da."

It made Jesse's heart hurt. Whatever had happened to him, however Reyes had been brought back from the explosion, it had rebuilt him from the ground up. Was he still the same person? Had he been awake while it happened? This new face brought up more questions than it answered, and those pupil-less eyes were... unsettling, to say the least. 

"Ain't you just as pretty as a picture," he drawled, hooking his thumbs through his beltloops. "That mean you ain't gonna smack me for callin' you Four-Eyes no more?"

Reaper facepalmed, although he really didn't expect anything else. "It's still an insult."

"Ain't an insult anymore than callin' me Two Legs is an insult," Jesse objected, abandoning all pretense of caution and taking a couple steps closer to his commander. "Well, I suppose I'd get kinda pissy if somebody called me Arm-and-a-Half, so maybe I'll quit callin' you Four-Eyes," he amended. He peered curiously at Reyes' face, poking one of his sharp, sharp canines fully expecting a smack and a rebuke. "These come in handy? I'd prob'ly bite my fool tongue off."

"Only when feeding. And my 'new' tongue is built to not be cut by them." He smacked Jesse's hand away. "I would recommend poking them though, or you you might end up being 'Arm-and-a-half-minus-a-few-fingers'."

Jesse snickered. "See, metal fingers are easy t'replace," he said cheerfully. "Still hurt like a bitch t'lose, but I can get new ones without bleedin' out in the process. "You gotta eat somethin' particular, these days? Or is it still kinda anythin' goes?"

"I can still eat regular food, but it's not as filling as it used to be. This hellish body feasts on souls."

"Pity I ain't got one'a those," Jesse said cheerfully. "What happens t'somebody after you eat their souls? It make 'em like you, or does it just kill 'em? Poof, gone?"

"Their body is drained of life, simply leaving them as an empty husk. It's not pretty."

"Huh." Jesse chewed on that thought for a moment, considering. "That why you went over t'Talon? Not too many souls available workin' for somebody like Overwatch." A thought occurred to him. "Do omnics have 'em? Souls, I mean?"

"Some of them, surprisingly, although I've found human souls are tastier." He stared at Jesse, almost as if he was looking through him. "And just because someone seems 'soulless' doesn't mean they don't have a soul. I can smell, and kinda see yours Jesse."

The way Reyes was looking at him made McCree shiver. He felt splayed open, suddenly, as if, with only his eyes, Reyes had ripped open his ribs to peer at the soul sheltered within them. 

"What's mine like?" he asked, soft, curious. If Reyes wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead. Right now, he didn't think that was what his old commander wanted.

"Your soul's been through quite a bit, but it's still alot more tender than many I've seen." 

"Tender-souled." McCree gave a soft snort, self-consciously readjusting his serape. "Well. What can I say? You caught me, I'm a big ol' softie." He rubbed his upper arms, shivering again, but then Reyes had stopped looking at him--through him? in him?--and he felt a little bit less exposed.

"I should stop looking." Reyes said, turning his head away, as if slightly ashamed.

"Why, feelin' hungry?"

"Maybe a little. I usually only soul gaze when I'm hunting, so the longer I look, the more tempted I become." He took a step back.

"Hey, no." Jesse reached out, wrapping his fingers around Reyes' wrist before he had a chance to think about it. "Wait. Talk to me. Do souls...regrow? I know livers do, long as there's, what, a third of 'em left?" Reyes had made sure Jesse hadn't gone hungry more times than the cowboy cared to recount, and he'd be damned before he'd let Reyes go hungry just because he had special dietary requirements.

"Not that I know of. I usually devour the soul whole, so I've never actually tried partially eating one. And usually I year the body apart a bit too." He suddenly caught on to what Jesse was suggesting. " _No_."

Jesse snorts. "You gotta eat, boss," he said. "So what you eat's a little... unconventional. That don't make me no nevermind. You don't want mine, fine. I'll find you somebody else's."

"..." Reaper hadnt expected this. "Who you gonna feed me then? Some homeless guy off the street?"

McCree snorted. "Fuck no. I kill people for a livin', if you recall. They're gonna die anyway, no reason t'waste their souls." He lifted his chin. "You can have mine when I die. Ain't got no use for it."

"...You do know there is a side effect of eating a soul right? And Jesse, please don't go killing yourself, you dumb cowboy."

"What kinda side effect?" Jesse asked, curious. "And I ain't gonna kill myself, dumbass. How'm I gonna catch you some nice, tasty souls if I'm dead?"

"I get a glimpse of their life, similar to that saying 'one's life flashing before their eyes'. It was pretty overwhelming the first times it happened, but I grew used to it." A long reptilian tongue snaked out and licked his teeth, before sliding back inside. "And if you're so desperate to feed me, we could try your theory with one."

"Quit snoopin' around in my life, then, asshole," McCree huffed in mock offense, pressing a his left hand dramatically over his heart with the clank of metal on metal. "And you said yourself I'm soft. 'Course I'm gonna feed you. What theory'd you wanna test?"

"What happens if I only eat part of a soul."

McCree nodded, steeling himself. He'd meant it when he'd offered. He owed this to Reyes at the very least. "'Course. But don't rip me up, if you don't mind. I need my body in one piece. How do we do this?"

"I'd rather we try this on one of those people you were gonna feed me first. I dont want to risk damaging your soul forever."

"Aww, you do care," McCree teased, but he was smiling. Reyes sighed. "Just so happens I'm in town on business. You wanna swing by the place with me, I'll get you a snack. You wanna go for it while they're still alive, or after I shoot 'em? How long you got to snatch 'em up after they're dead, anyhow?"

"Injure them, but keep them alive. We won't know if it works if they die on us."

"You got it boss!"

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Shamchat](http://www.shamchat.com/7f672508/)


End file.
